Raspberry Pi camera module in development

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Anyone who thought that the Raspberry Pi Foundation was done after releasing their tiny, cheap PC are in for a surprise. We already know about the forthcoming Gertboard, which should open up the Raspberry Pi to anyone who enjoys messing around with Arduino, or wants to get their hands dirty hooking up motors, sensors, and LEDs. Now we have heard news of another module that’s in development.

The Foundation has posted the first images and output of a camera module. As you can see from the image above and below, it’s quite tiny, yet somehow manages to squeeze in a 14-megapixel image sensor.

It’s unlikely such a sensor will make it into the final module because cost is a concern. It’s much more likely we’ll see a 2-5-megapixel option in the final hardware (5-megapixel is most likely based on comments being made over on the Raspberry Pi post), which is still going to offer up some great image and video capturing opportunities. It also offers an opportunity for someone like ModMyPi to create a case that integrates the camera module for a type of security camera setup.

The module is being developed part time whenever the three guys working on it (including Gert who is developing the Gertboard) get a free evening or weekend. Because of that, there’s no word on a release date or pricing, but you can be sure this will see a release in the not too distant future.

As for potential uses, there are many. Setup your own Raspberry Pi security camera, hook it up to a robot, use it to automate a system based on motion, or start experimenting with computer vision if your programming skills are up to it. We may even see someone producing a very cheap digital camera.